COMPLEX NETWORK ANALYSIS OF A GRAPHIC NOVEL: THE CASE OF THE BANDE DESSINÉE THORGAL

Abstract

The task of extracting and analyzing character networks from works of fiction, such as novels and movies, has been the object of a number of recent publications. However, only a very few of them focus on graphic novels, and even fewer on European graphic novels. In this paper, we focus on Thorgal, a bande dessinée, i.e. a comic of the French-Belgian tradition. We manually annotate all the volumes of this series, in order to constitute a corpus allowing us to extract its character network. We perform a descriptive analysis of the network structure and compare it to real-world and fictional social networks. We also study the effect of character filtering over the network structure. Finally, we leverage complex network analysis tools to answer two research questions from the literature, related to the similarity between Thorgal and the Saga of Icelanders; and to the position of women in the series. Our data and source code are both publicly available online.

Unraveling minnan imagery: a comprehensive analysis of traditional and modern minnan nursery rhymes through complex networks

“…Works in the field of complex networks also delve into interdisciplinary topics like literature and art. Weng et al have constructed complex networks based on interactions between characters in literary works [22][23][24]. By analyzing the connections and relationships between characters, they gain insights into narrative structures, character dynamics, and thematic elements.…”